BENIHANA ****** LOCATION: LAS VEGASWebsite: http://www.benihana.com/This Japanese eatery is located in the Benihana Village, a really lovely garden-like area designed to resemble Japanese landscape. From there you ride up in an elevator and enter the actual restaurant. Inside it is decorated in a typical teppanyaki style, meaning there are the rather large tables with grill plates, which usually sit 8 people. The food itself did not disappoint in the slightest: everything was delicious and cooked to perfection. The onion soup and the salad both tasted wonderful and the grilled steak and seafood can only be described as fabulous, flavorful and noble in its simplicity. If it was only the culinary performance that I was evaluating here I would have gladly given this restaurant 6 stars. But since I must consider the overall experience, then I am forced to admit that 3 stars is all that it deserves, and that’s with me feeling particularly generous today. The reason for that being the service, one of worst I have seen so far here in Vegas.The waitress put on an attitude right from the beginning of the evening; she acted in a very snotty and disrespectful manner. We changed our places a couple of times (we were there with a group of six) to be able to talk to each other and she kept complaining about it. But what I got rather offended about was the so-called “wine incident”. I can only guess that by mistake an old menu must have gotten mixed in with the new ones, featuring a wine selection that was no longer available. I was the one who got the old one (I did not know it at the time, of course), so I picked a glass of wine from there. I liked it and wanted to order a second glass, so the waitress brought me the menu again, this time the new one. Of course my wine was not on it, so I told her that I can’t see it anymore, but I remembered its name. She informed me they don’t have anything like that. I pointed out that it was right there on the menu and I just ordered it like half an hour ago. To which she said she had no idea what I was talking about, she brought me another wine (from the new selection) last time and that I am clearly hallucinating and imagining things. So that goes to show she did not even listen to my order in the first place, since she brought me something entirely different from what I wanted! I was quite stunned at this and decided there was no point to continue this conversation, but my friend sitting next to me backed me up and confirmed that she did hear me order that other wine the first time. In the end a trivial incident, I agree. A misunderstanding that can happen anywhere, no problem. But the unprofessional and impudent behavior of the waitress is not the kind of service you expect if you go to an upscale restaurant. Especially a Japanese one, Japan being the nation where politeness and good manners are a matter of national pride! Even the Chef, although certainly very skilled, seemed kind of grumpy, and we failed miserably in our attempts to pick any cordial vibe from him throughout the evening. Indeed if it was there at all, it must have been away on holiday or possibly on strike, protesting against the obnoxious Las Vegas tourists and longing for the nice people of Japan. Hey, don’t look at me like that, I’m trying to give the guy the benefit of the doubt here, ok? And the last straw was the restroom. I can’t help but judge the real class of a place by the appearance of its toilet facilities and as these go, Benihana’s was a true pigsty. Dirty and disgusting. Something you would expect at a gus-station and not an elegant eatery.I would not recommend this restaurant I would not go there again.

BENIHANA ****** LOCATION: LAS VEGASWebsite: http://www.benihana.com/This Japanese eatery is located in the Benihana Village, a really lovely garden-like area designed to resemble Japanese landscape. From there you ride up in an elevator and enter the actual restaurant. Inside it is decorated in a typical teppanyaki style, meaning there are the rather large tables with grill plates, which usually sit 8 people. The food itself did not disappoint in the slightest: everything was delicious and cooked to perfection. The onion soup and the salad both tasted wonderful and the grilled steak and seafood can only be described as fabulous, flavorful and noble in its simplicity. If it was only the culinary performance that I was evaluating here I would have gladly given this restaurant 6 stars. But since I must consider the overall experience, then I am forced to admit that 3 stars is all that it deserves, and that’s with me feeling particularly generous today. The reason for that being the service, one of worst I have seen so far here in Vegas.The waitress put on an attitude right from the beginning of the evening; she acted in a very snotty and disrespectful manner. We changed our places a couple of times (we were there with a group of six) to be able to talk to each other and she kept complaining about it. But what I got rather offended about was the so-called “wine incident”. I can only guess that by mistake an old menu must have gotten mixed in with the new ones, featuring a wine selection that was no longer available. I was the one who got the old one (I did not know it at the time, of course), so I picked a glass of wine from there. I liked it and wanted to order a second glass, so the waitress brought me the menu again, this time the new one. Of course my wine was not on it, so I told her that I can’t see it anymore, but I remembered its name. She informed me they don’t have anything like that. I pointed out that it was right there on the menu and I just ordered it like half an hour ago. To which she said she had no idea what I was talking about, she brought me another wine (from the new selection) last time and that I am clearly hallucinating and imagining things. So that goes to show she did not even listen to my order in the first place, since she brought me something entirely different from what I wanted! I was quite stunned at this and decided there was no point to continue this conversation, but my friend sitting next to me backed me up and confirmed that she did hear me order that other wine the first time. In the end a trivial incident, I agree. A misunderstanding that can happen anywhere, no problem. But the unprofessional and impudent behavior of the waitress is not the kind of service you expect if you go to an upscale restaurant. Especially a Japanese one, Japan being the nation where politeness and good manners are a matter of national pride! Even the Chef, although certainly very skilled, seemed kind of grumpy, and we failed miserably in our attempts to pick any cordial vibe from him throughout the evening. Indeed if it was there at all, it must have been away on holiday or possibly on strike, protesting against the obnoxious Las Vegas tourists and longing for the nice people of Japan. Hey, don’t look at me like that, I’m trying to give the guy the benefit of the doubt here, ok? And the last straw was the restroom. I can’t help but judge the real class of a place by the appearance of its toilet facilities and as these go, Benihana’s was a true pigsty. Dirty and disgusting. Something you would expect at a gus-station and not an elegant eatery.I would not recommend this restaurant I would not go there again.